Books and Bible

T

TransformedinChrist

I am really trying to understand why some people are opposed to any devotional, Christian books, etc. They ONLY read God's Word.

I myself am dyslexic as my daughters are too. We know that the Bible is the authority and foundation of God's Word entirety. Bible is transformational and other books are simply informational.

Knowing that God's Word has the final say according to scriptures and that it's aligned in truth - anything else gets thrown out.

Using discernment is utmost importance when reading but judging someone who reads [I am not understanding]. Making people feel that somehow they don't trust God or following His Word ONLY - because we read other Christian Bibles, devotional or topics/studies to go through Books of the Bible - can I ask why individuals do this?

Thanks 😊 TiC
 
For myself, I enjoy reading.

I do find that many Christian devotionals, particularly those that have a specific slant to their message, may start from a core of wisdom but the author uses a glaze of christian teaching to promote a large core of teaching from their own personal view.

So when I read authors I keep my Bible handy and look up not only the scriptures cited in the book (and the context in which they set) but I also look for other, sometimes contrasting scriptures that were 'left out' of the discussion.

By the way, I am also slightly dyslexic, and I read SLOW, sometimes re-reading a passage until I am sure I know what is said. I still enjoy it even when I am challenged.
 
Siloam said:
For myself, I enjoy reading.

I do find that many Christian devotionals, particularly those that have a specific slant to their message, may start from a core of wisdom but the author uses a glaze of christian teaching to promote a large core of teaching from their own personal view.

So when I read authors I keep my Bible handy and look up not only the scriptures cited in the book (and the context in which they set) but I also look for other, sometimes contrasting scriptures that were 'left out' of the discussion.

By the way, I am also slightly dyslexic, and I read SLOW, sometimes re-reading a passage until I am sure I know what is said. I still enjoy it even when I am challenged.
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Thank you for sharing that is very informative and valuable seeing it from that perspective Siloam
 
no idea. But I love to read! There are lots of goodies to be had in other peoples books. I like to read all sorts of books. Classic Greats are high on my bucket list. I like to exercise my imagination that way. I even read Rohal dahl for children. hehe
 
TransformedinChrist said:
I am really trying to understand why some people are opposed to any devotional, Christian books, etc. They ONLY read God's Word. I myself am dyslexic as my daughters are too. We know that the Bible is the authority and foundation of God's Word entirety. Bible is transformational and other books are simply informational. Knowing that God's Word has the final say according to scriptures and that it's aligned in truth - anything else gets thrown out. Using discernment is utmost importance when reading but judging someone who reads [I am not understanding]. Making people feel that somehow they don't trust God or following His Word ONLY - because we read other Christian Bibles, devotional or topics/studies to go through Books of the Bible - can I ask why individuals do this?
Thanks 😊 TiC
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Siloam said:
For myself, I enjoy reading. I do find that many Christian devotionals, particularly those that have a specific slant to their message, may start from a core of wisdom but the author uses a glaze of christian teaching to promote a large core of teaching from their own personal view. So when I read authors I keep my Bible handy and look up not only the scriptures cited in the book (and the context in which they set) but I also look for other, sometimes contrasting scriptures that were 'left out' of the discussion. By the way, I am also slightly dyslexic, and I read SLOW, sometimes re-reading a passage until I am sure I know what is said. I still enjoy it even when I am challenged.
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Lanolin said:
No idea, why not ask the person themselves who is judging you? Maybe they are just sitting a Bible exam and not actually allowed any other books...?
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Via dolarossa said:
no idea. But I love to read! There are lots of goodies to be had in other peoples books. I like to read all sorts of books. Classic Greats are high on my bucket list. I like to exercise my imagination that way. I even read Rohal dahl for children. hehe
Click to expand...

Hello TiC;

I find your thread interesting and thank you for sharing and would like to respond.

I was never an avid reader whereas my wife is. So when I studied in college I didn't enjoy reading so my attention span wandered and this required me to re-read which took more time to complete my homework. Later at seminary I prayed and asked God to give me academic discipline in reading. Slowly but surely I developed a system for reading because later it would turn to writing papers and later my dissertation.

I'm sorry for those who are dyslexic but that doesn't stop you from reading. God bless you for that! All who are avid lovers of reading gives you an edge. There is so much good information to be had from books that you become more well rounded.

Siloam's Dad was a rocket scientist. Siloam loves science and loves to read. I believe Siloam was born in a rocket. 😎 lol!

I personally study the Bible daily and have mentioned that it's the only Book I read daily. But I didn't mention that I use other resources and devotionals as an informational cross reference to God's Word.

I feel people who only read the Bible could be that they may not fully trust other author's Bible resources or devotionals, as TiC shared, it's informational. We must discern with wisdom the information we choose to read and if it aligns with the Bible. But for others who enjoy fictional, mystery, non-fiction, biographies, etc...books, good for them.

Speaking on the subject of Books and Bible, I'm working on a project of donating all my seminary textbooks to their library. So I started removing the stickies (used as bookmarks) and will finish today. Tomorrow my wife and I will drive to seminary and drop them off.

But while going through the books I decided to keep 10 and can use them as a cross reference to my Bibles. I gave a daily devotional book to my sister in law yesterday. It has a calendar and passage on each page and day for the year.

God bless you all.
 
I'm reading a devotional at the moment called the Abundant Life.

For those of us who are slow readers or don't have time or struggle, reading just one page a day is manageable.

I'm a librarian and encourage everyone to read whatever they can. I'm not like a teacher that says you have to read only this and that because everyone else is. The church library has Bibles and other Christian books that support the Bible, am definitely discerning on what goes in there though.

I have noticed that some people like to control what other people watch or think. You always get this with some people, like they'll say you SHOULD watch this and that tv show just because they are or assume that you watch TV all the time and have your eyes glued to it. Or facebook or whatever. Well no, some of us have a life to live, and don't spend all our hours watching tv or online.

If someone is reading the Bible and they are up to page 456 and they want to keep reading and not read anything else well good on them! I have no problem with it. It doesn't mean they want me to do the same, but if they said to me 'you should read the Bible and nothing else' I would just think maybe they are doing a Bible challenge or something and wanted me to join.

Sometimes we must get out of this mindset that people might think less of us or make us feel bad for being not good enough. Our first priority is to please God and He knows what each of us can handle. If you are doing your best, then keep going!

The more you read, the more fluency you'll gain in reading. With dyslexia, sometimes it's often just a case of eye problems. I learned to read easily with spelling and writing. If you've skipped phonics and been taught whole word instead of first starting with letters, vowels, consonants, syllables and then short and long words then I might suggest going back to basics. Nobody reads the Bible instantly, it DOES take time. For most people it's the biggest book they'll ever read and for sure some it's the ONLY book they'll ever read.

The other thing I found so useful in my reading is a dictionary! Every reader ought to have one as reference and I do recommend looking up words because its so interesting to find out new words and their meanings.
 
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